TR Replies
Solution: Avoid places where other will be: There's a lot of space out there....it may take some extra effort but don't go to areas that you KNOW will be filled with other people.
Easy Guide.
#1 Read the TAY trip reports.
#2 Avoid going to the area where the latest TAY report says it was good.
#3 If upon reaching your selected TH and you see lots of other people.......go in the other direction.
#4 Enjoy stress free skiing away from other...
Easy Guide.
#1 Read the TAY trip reports.
#2 Avoid going to the area where the latest TAY report says it was good.
#3 If upon reaching your selected TH and you see lots of other people.......go in the other direction.
#4 Enjoy stress free skiing away from other...
Interesting and thanks for the map; Charlie would you mind telling us qualitatively where that was w/respect to the top hogsback summer tent camp; I can't quite pick it out.
author=Jason4 link=topic=29641.msg124409#msg124409 date=1384797318]
I have very little compassion for people that are skinning directly up underneath stuff that I've been riding for 20 years.
I should clarify that my intolerance is particular to skin tracks under the ridgeline between the ski area and Table Mountain because there is such good access to the east end of the ridge and a safe way around. There are other skin t...
How do you like your Freedoms? I like mine… but I feel the TX pros are too soft. What boot do you ski?
I took my kids up there this fall for the first time when one of the first snows came. I would really love to ski this area. I haven't checked the road status… were you able to drive to the TH this time of year? If not… I'd love to hear more of your itinerary and adventure.
I took my kids up there this fall for the first time when one of the first snows came. I would really love to ski this area. I haven't checked the road status… were you able to drive to the TH this time of year? If not… I'd love to hear more of your itinerary and adventure.
Whenever this conversation comes up, I'm reminded that beginners are taught to "climb what you ski", which is often good advice, especially in unknown terrain.
In the case of the Blueberry Chutes, I don't know the experience level of those setting the steep-slope uptracks. I don't ski Baker much, but the added objective hazard of strong/aggressive skiers coming down those lines would lead me to avoid the bases of those chutes anytime after a storm.
In the case of the Blueberry Chutes, I don't know the experience level of those setting the steep-slope uptracks. I don't ski Baker much, but the added objective hazard of strong/aggressive skiers coming down those lines would lead me to avoid the bases of those chutes anytime after a storm.
author=str8ryder link=topic=29641.msg124382#msg124382 date=1384751768]
What is unnerving is the recent trend to skin from the bottom of the slope up, spending the entire day under the face, and tracking out the runout of lines that should be skied top to bottom. Why place a skin track in a location where people drop in on top of you all day and debris goes rushing by? Much better to be in avalanche terrain with your board pointed down hill at speed and gear a...
author=Charlie Hagedorn link=topic=29651.msg124371#msg124371 date=1384746536]
The trail-ski out was fun and captivating; only a couple minor dings in the ptex.
I'll take a few dings in the p-tex over two miles of down hiking in ski boots (like I did last Saturday on Heliotrope) anytime!
author=flowing alpy link=topic=29641.msg124400#msg124400 date=1384793727]
huge skis with wall to wall skins and minimalist binders under the lightest fancy gear carried by strong climbers driven by a hormone fueled craniums make going up steep shit way easier.
b
Totally agree and maybe even resemble that characterization, yet there is still a right way and a wrong way to climb a slope. The right way has >90% to do wi...
Cool photos, despite the not-so-awesome conditions.
huge skis with wall to wall skins and minimalist binders under the lightest fancy gear carried by strong climbers driven by a hormone fueled craniums make going up steep shit way easier.
b
b
This is why I'll wait a bit for the "first powder day" frenzy to die down, too many kooks out and about. I understand the argument about not being out on days like this, why chance it? I also see way too many skin tracks in dangerous and inefficient terrain. If you have to ski on days like this choose a safe up track, for that matter make it a habit to set safe skin tracks that avoid exposure ALL the time. Good habit will go a long way to keeping you safe and alive.
author=andybrnr link=topic=29634.msg124392#msg124392 date=1384759338]
After all the reports from Stevens on Saturday, I'm really grateful nobody got hurt. The setup was primed between the amount of snow, wind loading, and crust layer present in some locations, let alone the number of folks out...
Indeed. I was wondering if the ground truth would match the speculations/predictions, and it sounds like it did.
author=silaswild link=topic=29641.msg124391#msg124391 date=1384758218]
Please understand I don't want to start an argument, but I'm concerned. Should anyone be skinning or skiing in such a location on a day like that? It sounds too dangerous for both.
^^^
Mike, triggered this on the down. We entered Bobby's chute from the top left, which had better terrain anchoring (tops of young trees visible above the snow). We watched a solo skier with dog enter and descend from the right side entrance, so felt ok with that line initially. After our group made the entrance and reassembled in the trees on the right side, my girlfriend and I decided to traverse left to Nancy's chute while the rest of the group finished descending Bobby's. We stop...
author=str8ryder link=topic=29641.msg124382#msg124382 date=1384751768]
Why place a skin track in a location where people drop in on top of you all day and debris goes rushing by?
Please understand I don't want to start an argument, but I'm concerned. Should anyone be skinning or skiing in such a location on a day like that? It sounds too dangerous for both.
Glad you had a good day, based on my experience the other day, I'm not sure i would stress over walking in the skin track, nice to be thoughtful, but there were literally dozens of people trudging up the track, and by 1000 or so it was pretty solid. It would have been a wast of breath and time discussing skin track philosophy.
We are seeing this all over the place in BC. Crazy steep up tracks everywhere. Overlapping ski tracks. I have told groups to wait and not ski over top of the uptrack and with deer in the headlights look they drop not knowing what they just did. That is an education thing more course more time with guides help solve those problems. The challenge is there are groups that don't want to spend the money and invest in their safety.
There is something to be said about mentor-ship and l...
There is something to be said about mentor-ship and l...
A bit unnerving to have some people up there who clearly weren't considering other people's safety.]
As the number of BC skiers increases such behavior will become more frequent...
What is unnerving is the recent trend to skin from the bottom of the slope up, spending the entire day under the face, and tracking out the runout of lines that should be skied top to bottom. Why place a skin track in a location where people drop in on top of you all day and debris goes rushing by? Much better to be in avalanche terrain with your board pointed down hill at speed and gear all buttoned up rather than skinning up with your pants down. In addition this approach undercuts the bottom...
Thanks for getting us stoked for the season. Wish I would have gone up skiing instead of mountain biking and separating my left AC (shoulder). Nice camera editing work mixing in time elapse.
do you use an airbag. you know the snow like the forecasters do - thanks.
author=all mtn link=topic=29651.msg124375#msg124375 date=1384747374]windslab, and good where you were. how steep were those slopes
Measuring from photos, much of what we skied today above timberline was in the 20 degree realm (the most-reliable measurement was 22 degrees). The roll that slid is steeper.
Good running into yesterday. Thanks for the uptrack and the cameo in your newest episode. Fun times tracking out Sliver before everyone else showed up. Nice choice of exit!
Access via Quicksilver then up standard exit route when ski area/south back are open.
Access via Quicksilver then up standard exit route when ski area/south back are open.
author=FreeBird link=topic=29636.msg124326#msg124326 date=1384704807]
There is a good base once you get to silver with 4" to 10" of light powder.
Was able to ski from t...
windslab, and good where you were. how steep were those slopes
Sweet! I was wondering, when I crossed it, who laid down that line at 1:14. Looked pretty tasty.
author=r1de link=topic=29631.msg124318#msg124318 date=1384670906]
Good report. Did you notice any wind slab formation on the N/NE aspects, or any slab releases anywhere?
None that I could appreciate
author=MattT link=topic=29631.msg124364#msg124364 date=1384740972]
Don't recommend it until the snowpack is deeper, unless you're into sacrificing ptex and edge material to Ul...
...nice work!...how did you access?...
On the other side of the valley there was some wind transported slabby snow on SW face. Not cohesive at all though as the snowpack was about 6-8" total.
Don't recommend it until the snowpack is deeper, unless you're into sacrificing ptex and edge material to Ullr.
Don't recommend it until the snowpack is deeper, unless you're into sacrificing ptex and edge material to Ullr.
Yeah, very nice day!
Took our older daughter out bc-ing for the first time, she doesn't have a split but used my Verts, I let her walk in my tracks ;D but kept her off others'
Met many skiers and a couple other splitboarders, everyone was smiling and friendly
Took our older daughter out bc-ing for the first time, she doesn't have a split but used my Verts, I let her walk in my tracks ;D but kept her off others'
Met many skiers and a couple other splitboarders, everyone was smiling and friendly
author=n16ht5 link=topic=29644.msg124353#msg124353 date=1384732098]
off road vehicles>?? trucks? quads? pics or you didn't go.
how deep was snow at PL?
They were lifted trucks/jeeps with huge deflated tires that just crawled up the road in deep snow! Didn't get any pics as I left my phone at home.
We parked off the side of the road about 5 miles from the Twin Lakes TH. Snow there was...
off road vehicles>?? trucks? quads? pics or you didn't go.
how deep was snow at PL?
how deep was snow at PL?
We had the whole of Silver Fir to ourselves today, but for the solo skier on the skin track we never saw. The steeps from Inspiration to Hogwild had a high shrubbery to snow ratio, so we topped out via Outback and skied same back to the Tanners Pass cat track and the run underneath the chair. The top part of Outback was steep enough to get some good turns, as was the first bit of the chair run, but everything below was too heavy/flat. Rain/snow line was about midway up Tanners.
Your right about alot of people that have no regards for anyone else on the slope. We are lucky that our snow pack solidifies so quickly. I've taken a number of guys from Colorado out in the backcountry and they are all amazed that we don't have more avi activity.
Don
Don
Thanks for the pat on the back guys! But, I must confess, I am a mere mortal. The bike is the real superhero. It has an electric assist that allows me to leap deep patches of snow in a single bound.
If only I could just get the cloaking effect to kick in I could get passed that dam gate, where “the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man"
If only I could just get the cloaking effect to kick in I could get passed that dam gate, where “the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man"
There was an additional slide in the Orion Chutes area at Stevens yesterday. The crown was on a steep convex rollover, supposedly skier triggered. From our vantage point we couldn't tell if it initially released on that same layer you mentioned or if it was on the old snow layer but when it got going it ran on the old snow layer. It was significant in size--I would guess the path was 100' across and ran well into Pegasus Gulch--maybe 900 vf.
Dawn patrol reporting in... Still fun, recommend lots of acreage underfoot, pass level has turned rain like or not quite snow anyway little earlier than forecast. The 186 swallowtail was the way to go for this kind of work
Update what do you know push post and the fat flake start falling again... Maybe I should keep doing that.
Update what do you know push post and the fat flake start falling again... Maybe I should keep doing that.
Thanks for the report Andy, glad you are okay. Did this happen on your way up or down?
Man Oh Man, what a fun day! I was impressed that even on a busy day when the lifts are going to open, Stevens Pass welcomed the uphill crowd. I was more impressed by the snow. I was even more impressed by the crowd. I'd guess there were 200 uphillers at the ski area. Swarms on Chief, and people headed toward 7th, Tye, Double Diamond, and even up Chief Bowl.
The Wenatchee crew was well represented:
The Wenatchee crew was well represented:
Okay then!
Hope you left some on the lower east side :)
Hope you left some on the lower east side :)
Good report. Did you notice any wind slab formation on the N/NE aspects, or any slab releases anywhere?
Hey Don! Sounds like a lot of the cool kids were at Snoqualmie today. :D Dunno if you know "BBq" Bob, but he was up there training today as well. Certainly decent conditions for a board.
Another excellent report confirming what should have been anticipated danger conditions given recent weather. Thanks for posting this + the details.